One morning 10 years ago, psychologist Jaak Panksepp walked into his lab and made an unusual proposition to a research assistant: “Come tickle some rats with me!” Panksepp wasn’t just trying to ...

It's a mystery that's challenged some of science's greatest minds, including Charles Darwin, Galileo, Francis Bacon, and Plato [PDF]. One thing is for sure: It’s not because we find it funny. In fact, ...

Maybe there is a tickle monster living underground or on a planet called Ticklelandia. And the people come to Earth and while we’re sleeping, they get in our mouths and live in our bodies. That’s why ...

Researchers in Germany have uncovered the reason why we laugh hysterically when we are tickled - and the answer is not because it is funny. According to scientists at the University of Tuebingen, ...

There’s not a PR firm in the world that could spin the reputation of the rat. They’re aggressive, they’re destructive and they’re everywhere. The global rat population is estimated to be at least 7 ...

Don’t try this at home, but tickling a gorilla, orangutan, bonobo or chimp can inspire bursts of grunting sounds. Yes, that’s laughter, says Marina Davila Ross of the University of Portsmouth in ...

How do whales hear music? They listen to orca-stras! I told that joke to a lizard and got crickets. It made me wonder the same thing as Eid Muhammad Afridi, who asked Saturday's Weird Animal Question ...

What is it about a tickle that makes us giggle? And why can’t we tickle ourselves? Greg Foot explains all. When you're touched, the nerve endings under your top layer of skin, or epidermis, send ...

Why tickling makes us laugh is one of those weird, unexplained questions which can only be explained by brainy scientists. Molecular biology and genetics boffin Dr Emily Grossman (a science educator ...